Cricket News: Morgan Does not Control the Crowd, ODI 31: Bangladesh vs Afghanistan

Australia and England are set to face each other in Lords, the ‘home of cricket match’, on June 25. England will need to win three of their next matches to ensure a spot in the semi-finals. Australia is placed second with 10 points. Another win will guarantee them a spot in the semi-finals. Aaron Finch’s side will also be looking forward to avenging the 0-5 cricket score that they had suffered against their rivals in England last year. However, the most looked at issue is how the English crowd will accept (or not) David Warner and Steve Smith. They have returned to cricket after a one-year ban imposed on them following a ball-tampering issue.

It will be interesting to see how the crowd will treat them at Lord’s and whether Eoin Morgan has any role to play just like Virat Kohli did at the Oval. Morgan, however, has said that it is not his job to tell the supporters how to react to the Australian duo during the match. Morgan said, “I’m not expecting anything. I think fans and supporters up and down the country will have different reactions, as they will around the world. So we’ll see.” Since Lord’s is known as the ‘home of cricket’, the traditionally polite audience is expected to be the opposite.

Meanwhile, England batsman Jonny Bairstow accused Australia of double standards. He said while fans were being told to go easy on Warner and Smith, former Australia coach Darren Lehmann previously asked the supporters to verbally target England pacer Stuart Broad during an Ashes series played in Australia.

ODI 31: Bangladesh vs Afghanistan

Bangladesh keeps its ICC Cricket World Cup hopes alive by defeating Afghanistan by 62 runs. Bangladesh moves to fifth place of the scoring table with this win.

After being chosen to bowl on a slow strip, Bangladesh’s Liton Das only managed to score 16 runs. Shakib Al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal scored a 59-run stand, but Mohammad Nabi castled the Iqbal for 36. Shakib scored 51 off 69 balls but fell to Mujeeb Ur Rahman. Mushfiqur Rahim scored 83 off 87 with four boundaries and a six. Mahmudullah scored 27 in 38 balls while Mosaddek Hossain scored 35 off 24 balls. The Bangladesh team ended with 262 runs in 50 overs. The Afghan’s Rahmat Shah scored 24 before being put out by Shakib Al Hasan. Hashmatullah Shahidi could only manage 11 runs before being dismissed by Mosaddek. Naib scored 47 off 75 balls before becoming Shakib’s second wicket. Najibullah Zadran and Samiullah Shinwari scored a 56-run stand, but it wasn’t enough. In the end, the Afghans could only manage 22 in 47 overs.